Media Ownership

Where do you get your media? If you’re like millions of people, it’s probably some combination of the internet, broadcasting and even old-fashioned print publications. As the adage goes, information is power — now more than ever before. Which is why diversity of channels and viewpoints is so important. The internet is amazing in this regard, but it’s only part of the picture. Local media can offer a platform for community voices that tend to get lost in the vastness of the global internet. Not to mention the fact that not every American has access to affordable broadband. This is why it is crucial to nurture diversity of content and programming on traditional media platforms like radio. read more

Today, a group of 46 signees sent a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski urging the Commission to make diversity a central focus of its upcoming Quadrennial Media Ownership Rule Review.

The letter calls for the FCC to:

1.Evaluate the impact of its media ownership rules on ownership opportunities for women and people of color.
2.Take proactive measures to promote ownership of broadcast stations by underrepresented groups.
3.Guard against further erosion of media ownership among these groups by maintaining existing media ownership limits. read more

We, the undersigned organizations, urge the Federal Communications Commission to make diversity a central focus of its upcoming Quadrennial Media Ownership Rule Review.

The strength of our country lies in the diversity of our people. Our media system will better serve the public interest when it draws on the diverse backgrounds, perspectives and talents of the population. Unfortunately, ownership of the nation’s media outlets consistently fails to reflect this diversity.

Women and people of color historically have been grossly underrepresented in ownership of radio and television stations — media forms that use the public airwaves and rank as our nation’s most popular and influential outlets. Women comprise over 51 percent of the population yet hold only 6 percent of radio and TV station licenses.And while people of color make up over 36 percent of the U.S. population, they hold just over 7 percent of radio licenses and 3 percent of TV licenses.1

The continued absence of FCC action in the face of deep and intractable ownership disparities is unacceptable. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently affirmed that “ownership diversity is an important aspect of the overall media ownership regulatory framework.”2 Yet the FCC has failed to adopt proactive policies to remedy these disparities. Furthermore, it has persistently neglected even to examine or address the impact of existing media market consolidation on broadcast ownership opportunities for women and people of color. The FCC must take care not to repeat the mistakes of prior administrations by “pun[ting] yet again on this important issue.”3

Most importantly, while the FCC assesses the impact of its media ownership rules and pursues more active measures to address longstanding disparities in broadcast media ownership, it must not undercut the benefits of such measures by allowing greater consolidation of broadcast outlets.

Existing media concentration levels already limit ownership opportunities for historically underrepresented groups. Excess consolidation has crowded out female and minority owners, who tend to be single-station owners who cannot compete with consolidated groups for programming and advertising revenue. Allowing increased consolidation in local media markets would raise station prices and further diminish the already limited number of stations available for purchase. This would leave women and people of color with fewer opportunities to become media owners and promote diverse programming in local communities.

In conclusion, we urge the FCC to do the following:

1.Evaluate the impact of its media ownership rules on ownership opportunities for women and people of color.
2.Take proactive measures to promote ownership of broadcast stations by underrepresented groups.
3.Guard against further erosion of media ownership among these groups by maintaining existing media ownership limits.

Absent these measures, ownership levels among underrepresented groups will continue to decline and the promise of a diverse media system that serves the information needs of all people will continue to elude our nation.

Respectfully submitted.

Access Humboldt
Alliance for Community Media
American Association of University Women
Asian American Journalists Association
Bitch Media
Center for Media Justice
Center for Social Inclusion
Common Cause
Digital Sisters
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting
Feminist Majority Foundation
Free Press
Future of Music Coalition
Hollaback!
Institute for Local Self-Reliance
International Museum of Women
Media Alliance
Media Equity Collaborative
Media Literacy Project
MomsRising
National Alliance for Media Art & Culture
National Association of Black Journalists
National Association of Hispanic Journalists
National Council of Negro Women
National Council of Women Media and Technology Task Force
National Council of Women’s Organizations
National Hispanic Media Coalition
National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association
National Organization for Women Foundation
National Women’s Law Center
Native American Journalists Association
Native Public Media
New Moon Girls
People’s Production House
Prometheus Radio Project
Rainbow PUSH Coalition
Reclaim the Media!
Reel Grrls
Southern Connecticut State University Women’s Studies Program SPARK Movement UNITY: Journalists of Color
Women, Action, & the Media
Women In Media & News
Women’s Media Center
Women Who Tech

Thanksgiving was an interesting day for those who follow telecommunications hoo-hah. While most Americans were enjoying turkey, stuffing and football, AT&Trequested to withdraw their merger application with T-Mobile from consideration at the Federal Communications Commission. AT&T and Deutsche Telecom (T-Mobile’s parent company) instead announced plans to concentrate on Department of Justice antitrust proceedings that will go to trial in February 2012. read more

Everyone’s wallet gets light from time to time. In the late 1950s and early ‘60s, Willie Nelson was so broke, he sold the rights to several of his most well-known songs for less than what a full tank of gas would cost today. “I needed fifty dollars!” he later recalled. In hindsight, the idea of letting the rights to “Crazy” go for a paltry ten bucks seems, well, crazy. Unfortunately Congress may be on the verge of making the same sort of short-sighted mistake with its proposed plan to sell off TV broadcast spectrum as a method of raising a small amount of revenue in the short-term. read more

President Obama nominated two individuals late Monday to fill open slots on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). With one vacant seat and another expected shortly, Obama nominated Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel and Republican Ajit Varadaraj Pai to the Commission. read more

And there was a feeling the deal struck the right balance between rights holders’ needs and the rights of Internet customers. “While it is too early to tell whether a graduated response policy will have any measurable effect on the unauthorized distribution of music files, the framework does seem to strike an appropriate balance between access to a crucial communications platform and the need to protect the rights of artists,” said Future of Music Coalition Deputy Director Casey Rae-Hunter.

Dozens of groups have voiced opposition to the merger between the second-largest mobile carrier in the U.S. and the fourth-largest. The merger would reduce competition in the mobile market and likely drive up prices, said critics including Public Knowledge, the Rural Telecommunications Group and the NoChokePoints Coalition, a coalition of telecom customers, consumer groups and small carriers concerned with mobile backhaul rates.

The merged company would be “contrary to the express policies of Congress and the Commission to rely on competition rather than regulation to protect consumers and spur deployment of new services,” Public Knowledge and the Future of Music Coalition wrote in a May 31 filing to the FCC.

Recently, FMC teamed up with Public Knowledge to file an official Petition to Deny at the Federal Communications Commission regarding the proposed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile. We oppose the merger because we believe that artists’ and music consumers’ interests are best served in by an open market with plenty of competition and widespread access to technology (including high-speed internet). And, since music is becoming increasingly accessed via mobile devices, wireless providers have increased influence over the world of content. read more

Future of Music Coalition met with the Commissioner and his staff to discuss the state of the commercial radio marketplace. FMC is specifically concerned with the proposed transfer of control and assignment of licenses in the merger of Citadel Broadcasting Corporation (Citadel) and Cumulus Media Inc. (CMI). As FMC’s eleven years of documenting trends in the commercial radio space indicates, consolidation in the radio industry has led to conditions that could appropriately be described as market failure. The drive to cut costs to please investors, coupled with highly restrictive programming behaviors, have stymied broadcasters’ ability to fulfill their public interest obligations of localism and diversity, while affecting their ability to attract and retain listeners.

When FMC speaks with artists, and managers and fans, we are impressed by how much enthusiasm there is for terrestrial radio. However, this enthusiasm is not often reflected in commercialradio programming, which is homogenized and risk-averse. We also notice that noncommercial radio is driving a considerable amount of activity — monetary, cultural and otherwise — by highlighting independent and local content. We wonder if there is more that commercial radio can do to play an active role in the new music ecosystem in a way that makes sense both economically and with regards to station owners’ license obligations. We worry that commercial station owners might be missing out on significant opportunities to compete in today’s media marketplace by failing to acknowledge terrestrial radio’s core strengths, namely live and locally-originated programming.

We have spoken to representatives for CMI and we appreciate their efforts to bring new equity into the marketplace and divest their overlapping stations to owners who seek to best serve the public interest. Additionally, we are cautiously optimistic about CMI’s goal to “place more feet on the streets and jocks on the air,” to borrow a phrase from CMI Chairman, President and CEO Lew Dickey. Our number one concern, however, is programming and the lack of access for independent creators and labels. According to the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM), a merged company would likely result in more barriers to airplay for their independent record label members. FMC shares these concerns on the artist side, yet welcomes opportunities for positive reform in commercial radio in both programming and community engagement.

Another concern shared by both FMC and the independent label community is structural or institutional payola. As documented in several qualitative and quantitative reports by both groups, radio station ownership consolidation in part establishes an environment where payola or payola-like practices are a natural outcome. We are not entirely satisfied with the practical results of the Consent Decree and Voluntary Agreements in the wake of 2007’s payola settlements, and would welcome more meaningful engagement between the independent music sector and commercial radio.

CMI has expressed interest in further discussing some of FMC’s concerns and ideas about how to make local stations more viable through innovative programming. A growing community of independent musicians has had considerable success on noncommercial stations, and there is no reason why commercial stations cannot reestablish themselves in the marketplace by taking advantage of clear demand for independent content. Bands like Arcade Fire, the Decemberists, and Spoon have all made it to the top of the Billboard charts but receive scant airplay on commercial radio. To us, this signals that something is broken with the programming model. Restrictive, homogenized programming with little local or regional focus will is unlikely to attract new listeners; playing music they want to hear may achieve a better outcome.

Consumers have expressed interest in live niche formats. Commercial radio station groups have done a poor job of responding to these demands, as well as competition from other sources, such as web radio. To adapt to a changing industry, we suggest that certain metrics may be employed across any market to tailor playlists to local audiences and demonstrable listener demand. The question is how can stations can engage local communities and partner with independent practitioners to once again be a driver in the music marketplace.

CMI has suggested that HD radio substations will address many of the issues of diversity in programming. This would be a welcome development, but HD radio has yet to become a factor in attracting listeners to commercial stations, and studies show that many already prefer web radio alternatives in automobiles, due to the ease of incorporating mobile devices into vehicle dashboards. Therefore, we believe that innovative programming must occur on the terrestrial stations even before a yet-to-be embraced technology such as HD radio. Improving conditions in regular broadcasting may also drive listeners to planned HD sub-channels, which would surely be a welcome outcome for station owners.

Future of Music Coalition looks forward to opportunities to work with the commercial radio sector, the independent artist and label community and the FCC to identify positive, market-focused ways to make the most of this vital portion of the public airwaves.